What do you call this?

[gemini9961]

Like I said before it's a couch to me. I have never heard of it being called a Davenport or the other names mentioned. Anything I sit my butt down on after a long day or to watch TV is a couch, unless of course it's a chair.

On a side note, I had no idea there were so many different names. I use couch and have heard sofa but that's all.

[Lilith Cherry]

I found the following by googling; I call it a sofa but I grew up in England.

"The art of reclining.


Dear Word Detective: During my youth, a sofa or couch was referred to as a "settee." Where did "sofa" and "couch" originate? It was also referred to as a "davenport," but I don't know where that came from either. -- B.L. Dockery, via the internet.

Well, that's why you have me, isn't it? Incidentally, this striking multiplicity of names for one humble piece of furniture bolsters (yuk, yuk) my contention that humanity's true destiny lies not in endless striving, but in relaxation. Tomorrow the stars, yeah, maybe, but for now I'm just going to put my feet up and read a book.

All of the words you mention refer to the common sort of long upholstered seat or bench, usually with a back and arms, usually found in the living room or parlor. "Settee," the term you remember from your youth, appeared in English around 1716, probably as a fanciful variant of "settle." Although today we are most familiar with "settle" as a verb, it started out as a noun meaning "a sitting place" (from the prehistoric German "setlaz," meaning "seat").

A "couch" was originally a bed or other furniture designed for sleeping, not just sitting, and takes its name from the French "coucher," meaning "to lay in place" (ultimately from the Latin "collocare" meaning "to put together"). "Couch" in its modern sense appeared around 1430. By the way, the verb "to couch," meaning to "to express in words" comes from the root "put together" sense of couch.

"Sofa," which appeared in English around 1625, comes directly from the Arabic "soffah," meaning a raised portion of the floor covered with cushions and carpets for sitting. By about 1717, "sofa" was being used to mean a separate piece of furniture designed for sitting. Another term from the Middle East, "divan" (from the Persian "devan") originally meant "council of rulers," but later in English came to mean the padded platform upon which the rulers sat, and eventually was used as a synonym for "couch."

Compared to all those exotic origins, "davenport," which appeared around 1897, is pretty prosaic, though its origin is mysterious. The accepted theory is simply that at some point there was a Davenport Company that produced a popular line of sofas. "


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[jazzcat]

I've used both but I think sofa sounds nicer than couch.

[Christmas_Hamster]

Couch. I have heard of sofa but not davenport and setee(sp?)

I don't think couch sounds negative it sounds relaxing. If that insults people what it our world coming to?

[chocolatepuppy]

It's couch here. I can remember my MIL calling hers a davenport though. I seldom hear people call it a sofa.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'd call it a couch or a sofa but I usually use the word couch.

[Laura's Babies]

I grew up in Virginia and we always called them sofa's.. I still call it a sofa but I know when a person says couch, what it means and am NOT offended!

What in the world is this world coming to when there is a problem with saying sofa/couch! Yes, I take naps on mine so I guess that means it is a couch?

[Laura's Babies]

I grew up in Virginia and we always called them sofa's.. I still call it a sofa but I know when a person says couch, what it means and am NOT offended!

What in the world is this world coming to when there is a problem with saying sofa/couch! Yes, I take naps on mine so I guess that means it is a couch?

[Riptide]

Are you allowed to say potato? Or will it hurt the other veggies' feelings?

Anyway, I call it a sofa

[jenluckenbach]

Are you allowed to say potato? Or will it hurt the other veggies' feelings?

ROTFLOL

I use either word.

[Daisy and Delilah]

Are you allowed to say potato? Or will it hurt the other veggies' feelings?

Anyway, I call it a sofa

lol lol lol That is just hilarious Good one!!

[AbbyMom]

When I was real little, I called it a davenport like my parents did. (We're originally from NW Ohio.)

But when we moved, the other kids made fun of me because they didn't know what it was. Neither did my teacher. I quickly learned to use sofa instead.

[critter crazy]

definitely a Couch!! Besides there is nothing wrong with being a Couch potatoe!